Today he is the Lead Director of Hlengani Associates which is a Reputation Management, Media Relations and Corporate Communications specialist firm based in Centurion, South Africa.
Among the key current positions, Themba is the Media Lead for Fairplay Movement which is fighting Predatory Trade and Dumping in South Africa, he counsels a number of leading corporates on reputation issues, and acts as media spokesperson for number of businesses in the event of a crisis.
He is also a renowned media and communications trainer who has coached senior executives in both public and private companies. His last corporate position was as head of communication and branding for ArcelorMittal South Africa, the biggest steel maker in Africa which is listed on the JSE. He oversaw both internal and external communications having to deliver clear and concise message to various audiences. His biggest achievement here was steering the company after a corporate scandal resulted in the company losing more than R4bn market value in one day. He also guided and protected and rebuilt the company’s reputation during and after a failed black economic empowerment transaction.
Themba has also worked as communications and marketing manager for the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) where he was tasked with establishing the communications function and establishing a communications position for the Centre. Between 2002 and 2004, Themba was with the South African Reserve Bank as a media specialist and was often quoted by the media as the institution’s spokesperson.
Themba is an expert on:
- Development and implementation of communication strategies and plans (investor communication, internal communication, media communication, public or stakeholder communication, etc)
- Development and implementation of reputations management strategies and plan
- Development of branding strategies and roll out of brand activation initiates within the company and in neighbouring communities
- Development and implementation of stakeholder management strategies
- Development and implementation of crisis communication policies and plans